Resurrection Lutheran Church, St Catharines

St. Paul’s short letter to Titus in the New Testament includes one of our catechism’s references to the power of Baptism: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7). A washing of regeneration in which the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us refers to the new birth we have by water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism.

 

Because this verse speaks of the time when “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour appeared,” we also heard it read at Christmas Day service, celebrating when God appeared in the flesh. And on Christmas Eve we heard from the previous chapter of the same letter to Titus: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

 

These two passages highlight the reason and rationale for living a self-controlled life according to God’s commandments, which is not only good for you but gives glory to Him. It is the same rationale for why God sent His Son, to be our Saviour from sin, death, and the devil. And that rationale is: “the goodness and loving kindness of God.” That is what is at the root of it all.

 

The rest of the letter of St. Paul to Titus is mostly about instructions for appointing pastors for the Christian congregations throughout the island of Crete, and how Titus and those pastors are to teach the truth about God and instruct the people how to live as godly people in a wicked world. Paul had sent Titus there to co-ordinate the pastoral care for the people who had embraced the “goodness and loving kindness of God our Saviour.” These instructions for selecting pastors and other church workers are followed by our church today in the qualifications that are expected of our seminary students and all those who are on the clergy roster of Lutheran Church-Canada.

 

But there are also instructions in the letter for how Titus is to teach and guide the lay members of the church (older men and older women, young women, and young men) for their life together in church, at home, and as citizens of the communities in which they live. All of this has its foundation in “the goodness and loving kindness of God” revealed in the salvation given to us in Christ Jesus.

 

Who was this man, to whom St. Paul entrusted the oversight of the life of all the Christians in Crete? Titus was one of the Gentile converts to Christianity from St. Paul’s first mission trip throughout the provinces of Galatia (Galatians 2:1-3). Titus went with Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem so that the apostles could figure out what to do about the large number of Gentiles who had come to the faith. Up to this point the Christians were mostly from a Jewish background, knowing not only the Ten Commandments but the whole of the laws given by God to the people He had brought out of Egypt by Moses. But the Gentile converts, like Titus, did not have that history.

 

It was a pivotal decision, guided by the Holy Spirit, that these Gentile converts, like Titus, would not have to be circumcised or observe all of the rituals that had been given through Moses to point to the coming of Christ. Rather, they should entrust themselves to God and abide by His moral laws, in the way that we, too, have come to follow the Ten Commandments.

 

Titus, then became a co-worker of Paul and the Bible tells us that Paul gave him great responsibilities, especially concerning the collection of aid from the Christians in Corinth to relieve those suffering from famine in Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 7-9). Also, when Paul was later in prison, we find out that Titus could not come to his aid because he had gone on his own to Dalmatia (2 Timothy 4:10).

 

Finally, we have Paul’s letter to Titus giving him full responsibility for all of the Christians in Crete. Later church writings tell us that Titus was recognized as the Bishop of Crete until his death. We commemorate his day with the colour white, rather than red, because we have no evidence that Titus was killed for his faithful confession of the faith, but that he did live a holy life confessing Jesus before the world until his death.

 

We have to admit that is a pretty tough thing to do in this world. Throughout history and even still today we have been shocked and horrified when Christians are killed and churches destroyed because of hatred toward Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. Yet perhaps more common and more worrisome is the loss of those who have been taken from the church, not through persecution and martyrdom, but by being pulled away from Jesus Christ by the temptations of the world.

 

No gun was ever put to their head, just thoughts implanted of how much more enjoyment they would get out of life if they left Jesus behind. There was no sword to their throat or fire set to their house to drive them out, rather they willingly walked away. I suppose they wanted to leave behind all of those instructions that Paul told Titus to give to the old and the young in the church, instructions that we still want to impart from the Word of God today.

 

But in walking away from those instructions, they have also abandoned the foundation upon which those instructions were based: “the goodness and loving kindness of God.” The world tempts people to believe that life is better without instruction and guidance and that there is no love behind anyone who might try to tell you what you should or should not do. They forget that most instructions are given for your benefit and for your safety, whether they come from God, the Church, or elsewhere.

 

The instructions that I saw posted at Peggy’s Cove lighthouse last fall were there for the safety of people visiting the site: “DANGER! DEATH HAS OCCURRED HERE. SUDDEN HIGH WAVES HAPPEN WITHOUT WARNING, EVEN ON CALM DAYS. DARK ROCKS ARE SLIPPERY. STAY FAR BACK. RESCUE HERE IS UNLIKELY DUE TO CONDITIONS. DON’T TAKE RISKS. LEAVE HERE ALIVE.” There are 42 warning signs like this at Peggy’s Cove. The security team gives out more than 3,600 warnings every year for people to stay off the wave ravaged rocks. For decades Peggy’s Cove has been the site with the highest number of drownings in Nova Scotia.

 

Were there people out on the dark rocks the day we were there? That sign was not put there in order to stop people from having a good time and enjoying the scenery and exploring the coastline. It was put there out of concern for people, out of a respect for the cost of life. We might even say it was posted out of love for those who might lose a family member in death to the sea. The people there have a history of incredible efforts at rescue operations and emergency responses, from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, to the Air India crash in 1985, and along with their fellow countrymen in Newfoundland, opening their homes to air passengers diverted by the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in 2001.

 

Now we don’t know for sure that the signs were posted out of love. That wasn’t included in fine print at the bottom of the sign. It could have just been a measure to avoid being sued for wrongful death or something like that, but I doubt it. I would like to believe that people have a little bit of respect for life. The people on the East Coast know quite a bit about the pain that goes along with losing loved ones to the sea.

 

In St. Paul’s letter to Titus, it is not in the fine print but in the boldest of statements, not once but twice in one of the shortest letters of the New Testament (you can take five minutes to read it when you get home). In the church we hear it from this letter on Christmas night and on Christmas Day. The reason that God posts instructions for young and old through His Word and through the pastors and confessors of the Church is “the grace of God,” “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior.”

 

And this isn’t just hidden away in a two-page letter near the back of a thousand page Bible. It is the message of the whole Bible from beginning to end. More than that, it is the very sending of God’s Son into the world, the coming of God into His creation in order to save us. He split the heavens open and poured out His love and mercy into the world by coming in the flesh and placing Himself under His own Law so that He might be the sacrifice to save all those who have ever in the least little way gone against His instructions for a holy life.

 

Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, gave Himself up to death upon the cross in order to reveal to us “the grace of God” that we always doubt is there. He hung dead on public display with blood pouring out of His wounds to make clear to everyone “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior.” That is the message that we continue to proclaim from the Church along with the instructions for old and young. One would be of little use without the other.

 

This appearance of God’s love to the world in Jesus Christ, His dear Son, is what keeps us on track, calls us back when we wander away, and provides a shelter to which all can come. With the words of today’s psalm we pray to Him: “Be to me a rock of refuge to which I may continually come; You have given the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. For You, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD from my youth. Upon You I have leaned from before my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb... Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent” (Psalm 71:2-6, 9).

 

The Bible may have instructions for old men and old women, young women, and young men; but it also has words of love and salvation and shelter and rescue for you, from before you were born to the time of old age. He has cared for you before you ever opened your eyes to the light of the world. And He will care for you until the day you close them for the last time. He is your shelter and your fortress.

 

He has made that clear by coming into the life of this world that you have to live. He experienced all the hatred, hurt and evil that the world could hurl at Him, that we have hurled at Him by our every resentment of His instructions for our life. He was born in the humblest of circumstances. His shelter was with the animals. And at His death He was beaten so badly that He looked like a monster, all misshapen by swelling and discoloured with bruising and blood.

 

But all that this wicked world and our sins could do to Him did not defeat His love for us. He took it all in suffering and death upon the cross and rose again, not to zap into oblivion the world that killed Him, but to send out His messengers with the message of His love and instructions on how to leave their sins behind and live a life that receives His blessings and is a blessing to others.

 

This is “the grace of God”, “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” which appeared when Jesus Christ was born into this world and gave Himself for our sins. This is the same grace of God which Paul underscored as the foundation and source of the teaching and ministry appointed to St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor. This is the same goodness and loving kindness of God that is proclaimed to you through the Church today.

 

So when we have opportunity to remember a faithful pastor and confessor like Titus, it is salutary that we do so. In contrast to the grave sadness we have over those who turn away from the God who saved them, we have profound joy over those who have finished their course in faith and now rest from their labours. And we benefit from their faithful witness, so that we also might find our eternal shelter in the God whose goodness and loving kindness have appeared.